No-one truly knows what the future holds, but if films and television have taught us anything, it's that sooner or later, aliens or robots or robot aliens will threaten the very existence of the human race. At this moment, the world will call upon a muscle-bound, cheesy catchphrase toting hero who will save the world whilst finding the time to make smart-alec quips such as, "Hey robots, what's binary for game over?"

In Advent Rising, the fate of the entire civilised world rests in the hands of Gideon Wyeth. Despite a name that would sound more at home in the Welsh valleys, where an alien is someone who shaves, Gideon is an American hero of the Independence Wars. Set way into the future, Advent Rising picks up the story following news that a group of aliens out to eradicate the human race are travelling through the galaxy, gaining power and influence as they go. With the human race now spread across millions of light years, the first human colony is under threat. The Aurelians, a more peaceful breed of alien, have travelled to earth to warn of the impending danger and to charter a visit to the colony. Two of those selected to take part in this mission of utmost importance are Gideon and Ethan Wyeth. Gideon is an expert in flight combat and Ethan has a moustache, which means he can't be trusted. As two war heroes, reunited after some time, the brothers immediately attract the wrong kind of attention, and after a quick bar brawl with some random Cockneys (unintelligent henchmen have to be Cockneys by law) it's time to have a refresher course in combat training.

For me, an in-game tutorial is always a good start, especially one of this nature. You are asked to enter a simulated combat arena that you can move around freely. You can also stay in this area for as long as you want, taking on virtual enemies of increasing difficulty, which allows the gamer to move along at their own pace. Being in a virtual combat zone, it's also a lot easier to play when you know that any failure won't have any effect on your game progress, which gives you the freedom to try all sorts of different methods for tactically outwitting your enemies.

The gameplay isn't too hard to master and one great feature is that not only can Gideon wield dual weapons, but you can also fire individually by using the respective trigger for each hand. The lock-on aiming is carefully structured so that you're not left shooting at dead bodies while being shot by still living enemies, and with the ability to strafe whilst locked on, it's not too difficult to avoid incoming fire. Its all very fast-paced action, but I prefer a character to walk by default, as constantly running makes it too easy to fall over edges, which in this game can become very frustrating.

Graphically the game is somewhat mixed between true-life imagery and cartoon-like graphics and movement. To begin with, you must navigate your shuttle into a space station orbiting Earth, and the environment surrounding this is incredibly well animated. But once inside the station, the graphics become a little sketchy and the cut scenes can become long, drawn out affairs with more than predictable outcomes.

Within the game there is a distinct lack of variety for a title that boasts a universal environment. There are a total of 12 different weapons available, which isn't too bad, and on top of that you can unleash the force of 8 different superhuman powers. The beginning of the game where you take control of a small shuttle is very promising, but it is disappointing to discover that there are only 3 different vehicles in the game, particularly when this looked like it was going to be such a major attribute to Advent Rising's success.

If Advent Rising has a few chinks in its armour regarding the way it looks, then the way it sounds does it no favours. For some reason, all the dumb infantry baddies are unconvincing Cockneys and the gunfire is far too Doom-like; surely we have advanced beyond that by now? But apart from these troublesome Londoners, the character voices are typical of any space story, commanding generals and bizarre speaking aliens such as the French.

But the biggest problem that comes out from playing this game is the way the developers have set the camera navigation up. And it's so much to the game's detriment that it really stops it being a classic title. There is no auto correct, so the sole purpose of the right thumbstick is to control the angle from which you view things. Being of male persuasion and therefore incapable of doing more than two things at once, avoiding alien gunfire whilst trying to effectively manage a floor set from a Hollywood movie becomes a painstaking task.

On the whole, Advent Rising is an impressive title and the involving storyline means that before too long you're playing it well into the night and forgetting to eat, work, or even make it to the bathroom. With film trilogies often generating a lot of success, developers of Advent Rising have two more titles in store for future release, so don't expect very much closure on completion of this title. But if you get that far, chances are that the story will have sucked you in enough that you will be anxiously waiting the next iteration. The question remains though, will you get that far? Probably not.

Reviewed by Rob Byron for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).